Seamus O'Conner's Blog

Finally a day without rain. It was sunny for only a moment in the morning before the clouds rolled in. At least they didn’t release another 5 inches of rain. Business was good today. We met some great people. My friends Jim and Will stopped by. Will bought one of Anne’s Christmas gift baskets. She still has two if anyone is interested.

I am baking 4 loaves of olive bread in the morning. They will be for sale for $5.95 and will be available by 10am. If you want me to hold one for you email me at fioremarketcafe@gmail.com.

I haven’t posted in 12 days. What is going on? Am I lazy? I don’t know, but days have floated by like the orange and red leaves that drift past the front door to the yet un-open Fiore. It’s cold in LA these days. So cold that I could have sworn that I saw and felt thin ice on the large community table that I park under the arch at night. A sprinkler from the flower bed gave it an early morning shower and the cold, fall air decided it might be nice to make an ice skating ring on the old maple table.

Today was a bit better, but large full rain clouds kept the sun from warming us up. I wore an old Irish wool sweater my mother bought in Dublin quite a few years ago. It’s still warm, but the moths have made it quite unattractive with the holes they’ve carved out of the fabric. I don’t care too much. I wear it with Irish pride.

I have taken a ton of pictures lately. It’s one thing I have been diligent about. My camera is always at my side and when I do forget it which isn’t very often I still have the I phone to capture the day.

here are some pictures from the last 12 days. I hope you enjoy. The health inspection is Monday I promise. No more jibbery about.

I have been spoiled by our experience in Italy. I have tasted great olive oil. I have even participated in the making of fantastic oil. It was a real treat. The fact I got to do it with my oldest son made it better.

Yesterday I drove an hour outside of LA to Temecula. Temecula from the freeway looks like one big strip mall, a new one but a strip mall all the same. I hate strip malls more than anything. They are soulless to me. They are pretty, clean boxes that lack character. Maybe they are just too perfect for me.

About 20 miles south east of the main section of Temecula is the Temecula Olive Oil Company. This is were the olive are grown and pressed and it looks very much like rural Italy. It’s pristine, clean and rural. The houses are average. Some are not much to look at. The hillsides are strewn with large, smooth boulders. Olive trees cluster around each other and lay out across the land. They look just like Italian olive trees. Most of them are Italian. The equipment at the Olive Mill has Italian writing across it with names I don’t recognize, but words that are clearly Italian.

At this orchard a huge semi truck is parked. At the back of the trucks the doors are wide open and a large hopper is perched on the back. It looks exactly like the hopper I saw at the community olive mill in Italy. That hopper is the only similarity The rest of the machinery looks like something from a NASA space station. It sure doesn’t look like an olive oil press, but surprisingly it performs the same function. The oil drips from the centrifuge at the final stage of the pressing. The oil is golden in color and tastes buttery. It lacks the deep green color of the olive oil I am accustomed to in Italy,but it’s fresh and tastes really good.